The Red Hawk wrestlers took third at the Allendale Falcon Invite. Photo by Jane Ringler.

By Barbra Chong

The Cedar Springs High School Wrestling team traveled to Grandville on Wednesday, December 30. They started the day with a loss against Grand Haven, 32-35. Northview was their next opponent with a victory, 40-31. They took a loss to Comstock Park but it was a close dual, 29-33; and the Red Hawks finished the day against Jenison with a win and big lead, 66-12. Out of the 13 teams competing, Cedar Springs finished the day in 7th place. Grandville took the Championship, Hesperia 2nd place, Tri County 3rd place, Grand Haven 4th place, Comstock Park 5th place and Byron Center 6th place.

The individual records are as follows: Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza, 171/189 lb Ryan Ringler and 125 lb Jordan Ringler all went undefeated with four wins each; 145 lb Lucus Pienton, 140 lb Jacob Galinis, 112 lb Logan Hull all with three wins each; 171 lb Gage Gardner, 160 lb Nate Patin, 152 Anthony Topolski , 145 lb Xavier Anderson , 135 Jesse Empie and 112 lb Austin Emmorey with two wins each; 215 lb Cody McHenry, 135 lb Gonzalo Baladia, 130 lbs Aaron Smith and Jordan Andrus and 119 Patrick Fliearman with one win each.

Spanish exchange student Gonzalo Baladia entered into his first wrestling tournament and won his first Varsity wrestling match against Jenison. “We are short handed at a few weights and lost two close battles today because of it,” said Head Coach Nick Emery. “Hopefully, the boys have learned that every second, every point of each match counts. Moving forward I hope this team can rally around each other and spark the greatness it has the potential to achieve.”

Saturday, January 2, Cedar Springs traveled to Allendale for the Falcon Invite. The tournament attracted 15 area teams and some tough competition. Final team standings were Lakeshore with the Championship and score of 270.5, Allendale took 2nd Place with a score of 180 points and Cedar Springs took 3rd Place with a score of 179.5.

The tournament was broke up into Varsity A and B teams. Cedar Springs entered eleven competitors into the Varsity A division. Final Placements are as follows:

Heavy Weight Patrick Depiazza, who remains undefeated this season, took home a Championship Title; 171 lb Ryan Ringler also took home a Championship title; 145 Lucus Pienton and 125 lb Jordan Ringler with 2nd Place each; 140 lb Jacob Galinis with 3rd Place; 152 lb Anthony Topolski with 4th Place; 119 lb Patrick Fliearman with 5th Place and 160 lb Nate Patin and 112 lb Logan Hull with 6th Place each. The Varsity B Team entered six competitors. 145 lb Xavier Anderson took home a Championship Title; 171 lb Chris Shaffer with 3rd Place; 130 lb Aaron Smith with 5th Place and 135 lb Gonzalo Baladia and 112 lb Austin Emmorey with 6th Place each.